Microsoft Introduces Copilot’s New Background Agent Autopilot Feature

A new background agent called Autopilot is now available in Microsoft Copilot. Every Copilot task has its own virtual machine, storage, and cloud account. Autopilot can run tasks even if you’re offline. It is powered by OpenClaw (formerly known as Scout) and can be invoked via an @-mention in Teams, Outlook, or a document. For instance, you can monitor a Teams channel or gather quotes from vendors. Meanwhile, Microsoft is also transitioning Autopilot and its Code feature — which lets you build apps using natural language — from a subscription model to a usage-based model.

A subscription plan doesn’t make sense for background agents like Autopilot. Background agents may not require any resources for hours at a time or they might work through a task all day long. Subscriptions can’t account for these variations in resource requirements. The pricing structure for agents in Claude Code is also highly dependent on the task, so I track the token cost instead of the subscription price. As of now, Microsoft hasn’t announced any pricing details for Autopilot. It remains to be seen if this change will cost businesses more or less than the previous license.